HELP!! Stripped Damping Rod Bolt.

1737 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Currently, Feb 21, 2009

snowndirt

Discussion Starter · Feb 16, 2009

Well here i am swapping springs and oil on my forks.. Get everything taken care of taking the first fork apart.. Get to the second and I can not get the Dampening Rod bolt out of the bottom of the Fork ( 6mm bolt) So I take it to a new Motorcycle shop for them to use the Impact gun on it... Guy gives it back and says, " I wasn't able to remove the inners without the spring in" I say " but you did loosen the bolt" he says "Yeah"
I figure no worries, I got the other fork apart without the springs in it. So I get home and begin working on the fork.. I mount it in my vise and take a 6mm to it to see what the situation is. Low and behold, the BOLT IS STRIPPED..
I go storming back, but they give me "it wasn't like that before". tough luck..
Now I turn to my trusty SVR members for help.. Please offer help with this bolt issue, as for dealing with the shop that is for another thread..
Help Please.. getting this stripped bolt out, that is recessed in the bottom of the fork, and probably needs the same amount of force to remove as before..

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tcl

· #2 · Feb 16, 2009

Do you mean that (a) the hex head is stripped out such that your tool turns without turning the bolt or that (b) the bolt turns but does not come out?

If (a) you need to drill the center of the hex head with a drill bit to remove the head. This will let you pull the damper rod out and use vice grips to remove the remaining threaded part.

If (b) then the damper rod is probably just spinning in the fork leg and you need to reinstall the spring or use the handle of a broomstick to hold it in place.

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jdewkilla

· #3 · Feb 16, 2009

get those craftsman sockets that remove stripped hex bolts. and dont forget a new bolt.

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snowndirt

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 17, 2009

tcl said:
Do you mean that (a) the hex head is stripped out such that your tool turns without turning the bolt or that (b) the bolt turns but does not come out?

If (a) you need to drill the center of the hex head with a drill bit to remove the head. This will let you pull the damper rod out and use vice grips to remove the remaining threaded part.

If (b) then the damper rod is probably just spinning in the fork leg and you need to reinstall the spring or use the handle of a broomstick to hold it in place.

Currently it is under (a): Stripped bolt, tool spins freely..
I will try a set of the stripped head tools first. If that fails due to the bolt being so tight.. I will then drill the top of the bolt off, and pull the damping rod out and remove the remaining thread with vise grips.. Thank you for the help. Keep you posted.

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Alan

· #5 · Feb 17, 2009

If you were just changing springs and oil there is no need to remove this bolt. If you were replacing seals it would be different. to change springs and oil you just need to remove the caps, pull the springs out and hold upside down to drain the oil.

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snowndirt

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 17, 2009

It started as OIL and Springs but when I took off the dust seals to take a look, they didn't look good, and it became a seals issue..

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snowndirt

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 19, 2009

Well, I will be drilling out the top of the bolt tonight.. I talked to a machinist this morning to confirm I was going in the right direction. (the Extractors didn't work, bolt was too tight). None of the motorcycle shops around here wanted to touch the problem.

The Machinist (a seasoned guy) was awesome and talked me thru the whole process. He even lent me fresh bits to get the job done. He would have done it himself but "he didn't want to take my money." If I come back with problems he will take care of it for a small fee.. I think he is teaching me to fish, instead of giving a fish to me..

Keep you posted..

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Oh My Sack!

· #8 · Feb 19, 2009

snowndirt said:
Low and behold, the BOLT IS STRIPPED..
I go storming back, but they give me "it wasn't like that before". tough luck..

I'm thinking Arson would prevent this guy from "helping" anyone else! What a douchebag!

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snowndirt

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 20, 2009

His loss, motorcycles cost money to maintain, he isn't getting a dime from me, and I'll tell people this story.

The operation was a success..
I drained the oil and assembled the fork, then mounted it into a vise.
I started with a drill bit that was the width of the original hex head hole (6mm) and drilled that to a depth 1mm more then the bolt's head edge. I marked the drill bit with a Sharpy to know how far to drill in. (knowing the bolt's specs helps)

I re-drilled that hole with a drill bit a little shy of the bolt's throat width (shy of thread width) I was hoping the bolt head was going to pop off, but no luck. Then drilled 1/3 the depth (a little more then the original hex head hole depth) with a bit the size of the bolt's throat. The bolt's head still didn't pop off, but it had to be close and I didn't want to drill deeper...

So, finally, I removed the fork cap, spring, spacer and oil seal retaining clip. Grabbing the inner fork tube,I gave it a quick pull. Caution: The Damping rod will pop out; I had the uncommon forethought to catch it in a basket of rags. This left about 1/4 of threads and razor sharp top to unscrew by protected hand (or vise grips)

It was a perfect decapitation.. I stopped just short of the copper washer.

I would like to thank tcl, jdewkilla, and Alan.
A special thanks goes out to Ricky "The Machinist" who took the time to explain the easy yet daunting task to me and lent the extremely sharp bits to make it happen.

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Currently

· #10 · Feb 21, 2009

I know it is a bit late but search would of been your friend here...

http://forum.svrider.com/showthread.php?t=30094&highlight=drill+allen

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